A Miami city board has approved a rezoning request for part of the Jungle Island property, advancing redevelopment plans by Terra and ESJ Capital Partners’ Ecoresiliency Miami. The Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board voted unanimously to amend the existing special area plan and rezone approximately 5.4 acres of the nearly 19-acre site from T6-12 to T6-36. This change still requires approval from the city commission at two future meetings.
The board’s decision comes despite concerns raised about parking, traffic, and green space. As a condition of approval, a parking study must be completed.
In November last year, 62 percent of voters supported a charter amendment allowing for Jungle Island’s redevelopment. The joint venture between David Martin’s Terra and ESJ will acquire 5.4 acres within the current 13.3-acre Jungle Island property at 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail in Miami. Their plans include constructing two luxury condominium towers up to 48 stories on land purchased from the city. A significant portion of the waterfront theme park will be converted into a $37 million public park funded by the developers.
The assessed purchase price for the land is $160 million, but much of this will be offset through public benefits provided by the developers. At closing, Terra and ESJ are set to pay $10 million upfront, make annual payments to the city over a 99-year period, provide $20 million in public benefits, and contribute $22 million toward paying off an existing HUD loan on the property.
During Wednesday’s meeting, board member Arthur Porosoff criticized aspects of the proposal—particularly its parking provisions and public benefit claims—while acknowledging his support as someone active in real estate development.
“Let’s be real,” Porosoff said. “The reality is that it’s a joke….This is an amenity for the building. I understand everybody gets paid a lot of dollars. I get paid big dollars. I’m a developer. I like the story. I would hire you to tell the story, and I would hire you to convince them to agree with the story, but the fact of the matter is that this is not for the public. Am I going to vote for it? Yeah, I’m a real estate guy. But the fact of the matter here is that this is a joke, and everybody knows it.”
Porosoff attempted to negotiate more parking spaces but conceded that further leverage was unavailable due to previous agreements: “Now that I think about it, that’s a moot point. You can’t,” he said. “The deal was already struck, and it’s a bad deal that we did, in my mind.”
Attorney Iris Escarra representing Terra and ESJ explained that design decisions regarding both park layout and parking capacity would fall under direction from Miami’s parks department; she noted additional parking could reduce available park space.
Board member Joseph Corral also questioned how people would access both towers and park facilities: “It’s hard not to be skeptical,” Corral said. “It’s very hard, because if you would have told the people they were voting for a referendum to build [up to 48]-story towers, it would have never passed. But the park is really all we saw. We all saw the beautiful renderings.”
Daniel Vasini from West Eight described plans for enhanced bike access: “There is a great bicycle lane so you can come here by bike,” Vasini said.
Corral responded skeptically: “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Vasini replied: “I’m sorry. I’m being very serious.” Corral then asked: “Have you been on the MacArthur Causeway?”
